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Christmas display
Christmas in Berlin: A nutcracker soldier made out of lights. PHOTO © H. Flippo
Christmas in Austria, Germany, Switzerland

Tradition, Three Kings, and Kris Kringle

Although we usually take today’s Christmas celebration customs for granted, most of the so-called “traditional” Christmas practices only date back to the 19th century.

NOTE: We have updated this page for 2009. Please check back every now and then for more. And don’t miss our “Silent Night” page! The material on this page is copyrighted. You can’t use it on your own Web site or anywhere else without permission.

Even the date of the celebration of Christ’s birth has fluctuated. Until the Roman church adopted December 25 in the 4th century, January 6 was the day of celebration — today’s Epiphany or Heilige Drei Könige (the “Wise Men,” “Three Kings,” the Magi) in German. To this day, the initials of the Three Kings — C+M+B (Caspar/Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar) — plus the year are inscribed in chalk over doorways in German-speaking countries on the eve of January 6 to protect house and home. (Although historically the three letters are supposed to come from the Latin phrase for “Christ bless this house” — “Christus mansionem benedicat” — few of the people practicing this custom are aware of this fact. — See Epiphany sites.) In many parts of Europe, including Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, the Christmas celebration does not end until this date, now considered the arrival of the three “kings of the orient” in Bethlehem — and the end of the “twelve days of Christmas” between Christmas and January 6.

Nast Santa
German-American Thomas Nast’s version of Santa, illustrating Clement Moore’s poem “The Night Before Christmas” in Harper’s Weekly, soon became the American version of the “jolly old elf.”

Many “American” Christmas elements have come from German Europe. “Silent Night” was composed in Austria in 1818. (More on our “Silent Night” page.) The Advent or Christmas calendar is a German tradition that has become increasingly popular in the U.S. Even some American Christmas words come from German. Kris Kringle is a corruption Christkindl (“Christ Child” — It is the Christkindl who brings gifts on Christmas Eve in Germany, not Santa!) And it was the German-American Thomas Nast (1840-1902) who gave us the modern image of Santa Claus (and the animal symbols for both the American Democratic and Republican parties!) in the 1860s. (Nast was born in Germany and came to the U.S. with his family as a young boy.) His Christmas illustrations for Harper’s Weekly were later published in book form and, along with Clement Clarke Moore’s “The Night Before Christmas,” helped establish our “jolly old elf” image of Santa — not to be confused with St. Nikolaus. His day, Nikolaustag, is on December 6.

Boxing Day
One German Christmas custom the U.S. has yet to adopt is the two-day celebration. The day after Christmas Day — der zweite Weihnachtstag, known as Boxing Day in Britain — is also a holiday in Germany. There are many other Christmas customs and traditions — national, regional, and local — unique to German Europe. You can learn about them by following our numerous Christmas links, and reading our other Christmas pages such as the “Stille Nacht” (“Silent Night”) page.

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Hyde Flippo is solely responsible for the content of this site and, other than permission granted to publish copyrighted material, McGraw-Hill/Contemporary Publishing has no direct involvement, financial or otherwise, with this site. When in Germany, Do As the Germans © 2002 McGraw-Hill; The German Way ©1997 McGraw-Hill/Passport Books. All rights reserved | Site Map | Advertise with us!